The House That Parley Built
Parley P. Pratt’s Home In Nauvoo
By Paul DeBry
Parley P. Pratt
(1807-1857)
Nauvoo Background:
In the middle of the winter of 1838, Parley’s wife, Mary Ann, together with three young
children, along with the rest of the Saints, were driven by a cruel and ruthless mob from their
homes in Missouri. They settled in Illinois on a swampy bend in the Mississippi River that
Joseph Smith would later name Nauvoo, the “beautiful city.” During this time, Parley was in jail
and unable to help his family or the others in their difficult journey.
On the 4th of July 1839, Parley escaped from his gloomy, cold, dark dungeon in Missouri.
He had been held there illegally for eight months and four days. His captors had attempted to
feed him human flesh, poison him, and had given him spoiled food unfit for animals. He had
been taken prisoner with Joseph, Hyrum and others in Far West, Missouri the prior November,
under illegal pretenses. They had spent one month together before Joseph, Hyrum and others
were transferred to Liberty Jail where they languished for five more months before Joseph and
Hyrum were allowed to escape. It was during Parley’s first month with them in the Richmond
jail where Parley had recorded Joseph’s rebuke of the guards. Joseph told the guards to cease
their filthy, vulgar, foulmouthed language and boasting of their horrible acts against the Saints,
or he or they would die that instant. They cowered and remained silent as Joseph stood before
them in chains.1
It was while in Richmond Jail that Parley’s first wife, Thankful Halsey, who had died in
childbirth in Kirtland, Ohio appeared to him. He records, “I lay in silence, seeking and expecting
an answer to my prayer, when suddenly I seemed carried away in the spirit, and no longer
sensible to outward objects with which I was surrounded. A heaven of peace and calmness
1
Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Scot and Maurine Proctor, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
2000) 262-263.
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pervaded my bosom; a personage from the world of spirits stood before me with a smile of
compassion in every look, and pity mingled with the tenderest love and sympathy in every
expression of countenance. A soft hand seemed placed within my own, and a glowing cheek was
laid in tenderness and with warmth upon mine. A well known voice saluted me, which I readily
recognize as that of the wife of my youth, who had for near two years been sweetly sleeping
where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. I was made to realize that she
was sent to commune with me, and answer my question.
Knowing this, I said to her in a most earnest and inquiring tone: Shall I ever be at liberty
again in this life and enjoy the society of my family and the Saints, and preach the gospel as I
have done? She answered definitely and unhesitatingly: ‘Yes!’” 2
Her answer gave him courage. Later he was able to escape from jail. Often Parley hid by
day from his pursuers, and walked at night. Sometimes he could only crawl along due to hunger
and exhaustion. Parley arrived for the first time in Nauvoo on July 11, 1839, seven days after his
escape. We can imagine the joyous reunion he had with his family!
He recorded his reunion with Joseph Smith, when he first arrived in Nauvoo; “Here I met
brother Joseph Smith, from whom I had been separated since the close of the mock trial in
Richmond the year previous. Neither of us could refrain from tears as we embraced each other
once more as free men. … He blessed me with a warmth of sympathy and brotherly kindness
which I shall never forget. Here also I met with Hyrum Smith and many others of my fellow
prisoners with a glow of mutual joy and satisfaction which language will never reveal. Father
and Mother Smith, the parents of our Prophet and President, were also overwhelmed with tears
of joy and congratulation; wept like children as they took me by the hand; but O, how different
from the tears of bitter sorrow which were pouring down their cheeks as they gave us the parting
hand in Far West, and saw us dragged away by fiends in human form.”3
Parley was only in Nauvoo 49 days. His time was spent with family and friends,
recovering his health, and building a small cabin. He then left on a mission with his wife and two
sons. This mission was directed by the Lord through revelation and many of the Twelve Apostles
were sent to England. They left at the end of August 1839.
Parley meets the man who will build his house
On his return trip, in November of 1842, Parley met a man named Nicholas Silcox, who
would come to build Parley what was arguably one of the nicest homes in Nauvoo. They met on
board the ship coming to America from England. Parley was returning from his mission and
Nicholas was immigrating to America as a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Nicholas was a skilled carpenter and had remodeled the captain’s quarters, made a cabin
in the stern of the ship, and rebuilt the cabin stairs. Nicholas later told how, “The craftsmanship
of his work caught the eye of Parley P. Pratt. He [Parley] had a small log cabin he had hastily
built in Nauvoo, but had plans for a large three-story brick home and store combination. He
began to discuss his building plans with Nicholas. The result was ‘Parley P. Pratt … offered me
work to help build him a house when we reached Nauvoo.’”4
2
Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Scot and Maurine Proctor, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
2000) 295-296.
3
Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Scot and Maurine Proctor, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
2000) 354-355.
4
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 44-45.
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In the Times and Seasons on April 15, 1843, Parley said that when he returned to Nauvoo
he noticed that the cabin he had built in the summer of 1839 had been removed, “Even my
cottage had been removed to open one of the principle streets.”5
“It is very possible that the Pratt cabin was situated right in the path of future road
construction. Of course many of the streets had been laid out long after Parley and his family
left for England. For a period of time, it is quite probable that the road dead-ended at Parley’s
cabin. Consequently, they may have named the street “Parley Street” in honor of Parley and also
because of where his cabin was located at the time they named the streets. 6
Apr. 19, 1843, Joseph Smith indicated that he wanted Parley to stay at home and build his
house this year rather than go on another mission.7 Parley’s home was built very rapidly, taking
only seven months to complete. It would have been easy for him to have a large work force
working on his house at very reasonable wages. Many converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints were moving to Nauvoo from the eastern US and from the British Isles. They
all needed jobs while they established themselves in the city. Much of the work was done in
exchange for produce and merchandise from the store.
The cabin they lived in while building their house
The Pratt family lived in a one-room cabin across the street from where they would build
the brick home. “Parley Pratt and his family took a few days to find a place to live and settle,
since he had sold their former residence. On May 5,1843, He bought a building lot one block
north of the temple on the southeast corner of Young and Wells Street. ‘A house [cabin] was
soon rented across the street from our lot,’ wrote Mary Ann Stearns, ‘and we moved in joyfully,
watching the building of our new home.”8
May 7, 1843 “…the unsettled state of my [Parley’s] large family (consisting of wife and
her sister, 5 children, hired girl, and hundreds of goers and comers) all huddled into one small
room which we use for kitchen, parlor, dining room, bedroom and publick [public]
office…Myself, family, Br. Orson and family and Bro. Wm and family are all well and living
[torn page,? near] each other. Mother is here with us and is [torn page, ? doing] well. [torn
page] on and family will be here soon. I wish the rest of my kindred would gather here…. I am
now building a two-story store and dwelling house 32 ft. by 66 feet, near the Temple. I hope to
complete it in three months and then I am ready for another mission….”9
The barn and the first store
Parley first built a barn on the property in the spring of 1843. The barn was put up in only
one month. “The barn was put up first …” Nicholas’s journal shows he went to work on Parley’s
barn on April 18th, (1843). The foundations were laid out. Laborers with pick and shovels were
hired to dig a basement under a section of the barn. Nicholas worked at getting a rock foundation
in place for the remainder of the building. The barn was large enough to house a carriage as well
as horses and cows. First it was to serve as a temporary store until the store in the new home was
complete. … On Tuesday April 25th Nicholas returned to work on the barn. He directed the
5
Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo 1838-1846). http://jared.prattfamily.org/parley_family_histories/just_parley/ParleyPPrattInNauvoo.html, June 1, 2006). 1843, p. 2.
6
Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo 1838-1846). http://jared.prattfamily.org/parley_family_histories/just_parley/ParleyPPrattInNauvoo.html, June 1, 2006). Note 64
7
Documentary History of the Church, vol. 5, 367.
8
Mary Ann Sterns Winter, Journal, 11.
9
Letter from Parley P. Pratt to John Van Cott in Columbia Co., New York, May 7, 1843. (as quoted by Rick J. Fish,
Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo 1838-1846).
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construction work for Elder Pratt who also helped when not involved with his Church
assignments. Most of the Twelve Apostles had received assignment to leave Nauvoo to take
charge of missionary efforts in the eastern states… Nicholas and others assisted on the barn as
the timber framing took shape on top of the rock foundation.”10
Mary Ann Stearns, Parley’s stepdaughter, wrote about the building of the barn in June
1843, “The barn was put up first, a room in the basement plastered and fitted with shelves; the
goods brought from New Orleans [on the riverboats] put in; and soon a thriving grocery business
established. The people bring butter, cornmeal and eggs to exchange for sugar, molasses, dried
fruit, etc.; and the people working on the buildings drawing their supplies from that source.”11
The barn would have been built on the east side of the property, with the house on the
west side. The property sloped 10 feet or so down to a ravine on the east side, making it an ideal
location for a barn. It was common in those days to build barns on a hillside. This also would
allow a horse with a wagon to pull into the first floor on the lower side of the hill, and into the
second floor on the upper side of the hill. This arrangement would have made it easy to locate
the store in the “basement” of the barn and have it accessible for the outside without going into
the main floor of the barn and then down the stairs to the store. We have no records to show that
the barn was built in this manner, but the land would have lent itself to that kind of construction.
“In May [1843] the Pratt barn was completed, the store was in full operation.”12
In an advertisement on May 24, 1843, the Nauvoo Neighbor records, “Dry goods,
provisions, etc., Mr. Pratt at his store on Young Street, one block north of the Temple.” 13
Erastus Snow went into partnership with Parley in the store. Erastus’ wife, Artimesia
“had come into a small legacy in the East, and with the modest proceeds from its sale, they
decided to enter a partnership with Parley P. Pratt, who sensed that in a town growing as rapidly
as Nauvoo a mercantile business would be a sound investment. So they put the money derived
from the legacy into goods, and from the profits and capital stock itself, both men were able to
pay for their new homes. Indeed it is likely, had not the obligations laid upon both men as
missionaries prevented their devoting time and talents to merchandising, that they could soon
become financially independent. But such was not the case. Parley was a member of the Council
of Twelve; his first obligation was to preach the gospel, to travel abroad whenever and wherever
sent, to organize, to direct; and it must be said to his credit that he never neglected the
responsibilities of his important calling. The same is true of Erastus Snow. While he was not a
general authority, his unique talents for missionary work were almost constantly utilized by the
church leadership. Like Parley, he never permitted this obligation to become secondary to his
temporal needs and ambitions. Therefore the firm of Pratt and Snow did not remain in business
long; the more important duty of missionary work precluded its continued existence, but while it
existed it was solvent and profitable. The goods which they had purchased in the East, and which
Erastus had accompanied to Nauvoo, not only paid the cost of their homes but made them a
living as well.”14
10
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 54-55.
11
Winters, Winters Book of Remembrance, p. 3, as quoted in Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of
Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake: DMT Publishing) 56.
12
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 58.
13
Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo 1838-1846). http://jared.prattfamily.org/parley_family_histories/just_parley/ParleyPPrattInNauvoo.html, June 1, 2006). May 24 1843.
14
Andrew Karl Larson, Erastus Snow-The Life of a Missionary and Pioneer for the Early Mormon Church, (Salt
Lake City, Utah: The University of Utah Press, 1971), 86-87.
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The brick home
As the barn neared completion, work on Parley’s home began. “The basement [of the
new home] was excavated and rock walls plastered while Nicholas was doing the carpentry work
on the final stages of the barn. As soon as the foundation stones were in place and plastered, the
framing of the large home and store combination began. Nicholas had assisted in building large
country squire mansions in England while in his apprentice training. He had started his building
education at about age six with his father. He had eighteen years of experience to guide the work
of various trades and ensure proper construction of Elder Pratt’s home.”15
Mary Ann Frost Pratt
(1808-1891)
In the later part of June 1843 another skilled man arrived to help on the home.
“Grandfather and Grandmother Frost [Mary Pratt’s parents] and their family came from their
home in Maine. Grandfather Frost, a carpenter, soon went to work on the house.”16 A brick
mason from England named Robert Pixton also came to work on Parley’s home.17
Mary Ann Stearns, Parley’s stepdaughter records,
“In the latter part of June our joy was increased by the arrival of Grandfather and
Grandmother Frost, with their two daughters, Sophronia and Huldah, from their home in
the state of Maine. They were all in the Church and rejoiced in the prosperity of Zion.
Grandfather, being a carpenter, soon went to work on the house, which was of brick with
white stone base caps and window sills, and four, foot square-stone pillars at the front of
the store, supporting a stone cornice at the first story. There were twenty-seven large
windows in the building, and the cost when finished was $3,500, laying floors, making
the stairs; and before the roof was quite finished we commenced moving in and kept
going from one part to the other until it was all completed. There was a deep cellar under
15
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 58-59.
16
Winters, Winters Book of Remembrance, p. 4, as quoted in Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of
Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake: DMT Publishing) 59.
17
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 59.
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the whole house, and before the floors were all laid my little brother Nathan, while
walking over the joists, stepped on the end of a board when it tipped up and he fell
through into the cellar, breaking his leg between knee and hip.”18 The home was two
stories with a full basement. Sister Antoinette Fineran who lived in the home in the
1990’s wrote that, “It was an imposing home in those days, a red brick house of nine
rooms that became both a home and a store.”19
Probably no later than mid July 1843 Parley and his family moved out of the cabin and
across Wells Street into their new two-story home and store.
Joseph Smith and other general officers of the Church had toured the house as it was
being constructed. They were very pleased with Nicholas’ work and as a result Nicholas became
one of the few full-time paid construction workers on the temple. The temple was mostly built by
“tithing missionaries,” those who gave one day in every ten working on the temple, without pay.
Only skilled workers who were needed every day were employed full time.
On August 17, 1843, Parley left Nauvoo for a mission to the eastern states. Nicholas and
Mary Pratt worked on finishing the home and store.
Parley’s home in 1900
“In November 1843 Nicholas put the fine finishing touches on the Pratt home and store:
hand-made decorative moldings, handcrafted paneled doors-all smoothed, coated, and hung-and
elegant handrails on stairs. Lastly, the building was painted inside and out (exterior woodwork).
He wanted it perfect when Parley returned and inspected the completed work.”20
On November 7, 1843, an advertisement in the Nauvoo Neighbor announces, “NEW
GOODS, VERY CHEAP, PRATT & SNOW, corner of Young and Wells streets, one block
north of the Temple, Nauvoo, have just received from Boston the largest supply of Dry Goods
18
Mary Ann Stearns Winter, Journal, 12
Sister Antoinette Fineran, This Old House, (The Villa Marie) (n.p.,n.d.) August 24, 1994. p.1
20
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 63.
19
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ever opened in this city, consisting principally of good staple articles for fall and winter, such as
Broad-cloths, Satinettes, Flannels, Shirtages, Sheetings, Calicoes, Boots, Shoes, etc, etc. Cash
wanted, and country produce bought and sold. As we intend selling goods very cheap, and as the
principle of honer [honor], justice and impartially, no one need ask for credit, nor waste breath in
bantering on the price, as we have but one invariable price either for cash or barter.”21
Nov. 9, 1843, it was decided that Newel K. Whitney and George Miller were authorized
to use Parley’s barn and yard for a slaughterhouse to supply the temple builders with meat. This
work will have commenced by at least April 1, 1845.22
After Nicholas finished Parley’s house, he went to work making bricks on a plantation in
Arkansas, on the Mississippi River, just above New Orleans. Here he awaited the arrival of his
wife, seventeen-year-old Jane and their infant son Alma, to join him from England. When
Nicholas and his family returned to Nauvoo in the early summer of 1844, they were invited to
live with the Pratt’s in the new brick home while Nicholas worked on his own home. Nicholas’
new home would be built on the lot Parley had lived in while building his new brick home. This
would indicate that Parley’s home across the street was a dwelling not suitable for Nicholas and
Jane. Nicholas’ biography records that on their arrival in Nauvoo on May 16, 1844, “Nicholas
returned to the steamboat and began the process of moving the household effects by wagon, into
a room and the basement storage in Parley’s home.”23
Missionary work
The store, first in the barn and then in Parley’s brick home, operated for only one year, as
both Parley and Erastus were called on missions. “Having received their special assignments,
Parley P. Pratt and Erastus Snow closed out their business and prepared to take up again the
burden of spreading the Word for the church. On April 30, 1844, in company with his mother
and a number of elders who had been called to various states in the East, he [Erastus] took
passage on a steamboat for Vermont.”24
Imagine the faith of these brethren, to give up their main source of income and leave their
families to preach the gospel to a hostile world. They never knew from day to day where they
would eat or where they would sleep. Their families must also be admired for getting along on
meager means, as the breadwinner of the family was gone for long periods of time preaching the
gospel. Of the seven years the Saints were in Nauvoo, Parley was away proclaiming the gospel
for five of those years. This was consecration, by the missionaries and by their wives and
children, that has not been known since. We stand in awe of their sacrifice, commitment, and
suffering.
It is interesting to note that it was Erastus Snow, Parley’s business partner who, together
with Orson Pratt, first entered the Great Salt Lake Valley, on July 22, 1847. This was two days
before Brigham Young and the rest of the vanguard company arrived.
21
Nauvoo Neighbor, Nov. 7, 1843. (as reported by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo1838-1846). ,
http://jared.pratt-family.org/parley_family_histories/just_parley/ParleyPPrattInNauvoo.html, June 1, 2006).
22
Nauvoo Neighbor, Nov. 13, 1844 (as reported by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo, 1838-1846). ,
http://jared.pratt-family.org/parley_family_histories/just_parley/ParleyPPrattInNauvoo.html, June 1, 2006).
23
Pixton, Martha Silcock, History of Jane Heath Silcock, Dictated by Jane.” And Carlise, Eva Silcock,
granddaughter, Biographical Sketch of the Life of Jane Heath Silcock and Nicholas Thomas Silcock, as recorded by
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake:
DMT Publishing) 100.
24
Andrew Karl Larson, Erastus Snow-The Life of a Missionary and Pioneer for the Early Mormon Church, (Salt
Lake City, Utah: The University of Utah Press, 1971), 89.
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A night of terror
After the funeral for Joseph and Hyrum in late June 1844, “ The close-knit group of
neighbors around them [Nicholas and Jane Silcock], Jeremiah and Ruth Robey and their young
family across Young Street, and Sarah Pratt, wife of Apostle Orson Pratt, who lived next door to
Parley, soon joined them.”25
Mary Ann Stearns [Pratt]
Daughter of Mary Ann Frost Pratt and stepdaughter of Parley P. Pratt
Born April 6, 1833 – Lived in Nauvoo from age 6 to age 13. Wrote extensively about her
life in Nauvoo. Her journal has contributed greatly to this story.
Mary Ann Stearns wrote about the night of June 29,1844. She recorded that on the night
of the funeral of Joseph and Hyrum, the people of Nauvoo feared a mob that had gathered a short
distance away with the intent of destroying the people and the town that night. Parley was on a
mission in the east, as were Parley’s brothers, Orson and William and many others. Men left in
the town were on guard duty to prevent the mob from killing the inhabitants and destroying the
town. These men had few weapons to defend the city. Governor Thomas Ford had forced the
people of Nauvoo to turn their weapons over to his army when Joseph and Hyrum were taken to
Carthage, a few days earlier. Governor Ford guaranteed the residents of Nauvoo that he would
protect Joseph, Hyrum and all those in the town. Joseph and Hyrum were now dead. Governor
Ford and his army were nowhere to be seen. The mob, strengthened by a barrel of whisky, was
approaching the city to kill the remainder of the Saints. Nicholas Silcock tried to defend his
family and the others with only a sword. Mary Ann had given him this sword that had belonged
to Parley. It is not a very effective weapon against a mob armed with guns.
Mary Ann Pratt, Parley’s wife; Sarah Pratt, Orson’s wife, and other women and children
in the neighborhood were very frightened. In trying to find a hiding place where they could be
safe they decided that, “Mary Pratt had the storage cellar under the grocery store wing of her
home and one in the basement of the barn. ‘A deep cellar was suggested. A trap door and carpet
overspread. They shuddered at the thought of being concealed in such a place. We concluded to
take our chance together and trust in the Lord.’”26
25
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 155.
26
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 155.
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The original red brick wall in the basement.
Note the mark remaining of a stairway to the main floor.
This could be the stairs used by the women to hide in the basement the night of the
intended attack on Nauvoo. It probably had a trap door.
Mary finally decided that all the women and children would remain together in her home.
“If we have to be killed,” she said, “let us all die together.”27 Throughout the night, “The bass
drum beat with astonishing loudness,” said Louisa B. Pratt. “Every blow seemed to strike to my
heart, and did really inflict pain, so dreadful was my fear… a night of death, it was, … the
women… were weeping and praying.”28
“Word was brought to us from the prairies that the mob was coming to exterminate the
whole fraternity.”29 The mob was lead by apostates who knew where the homes of the leaders of
the church lived. Mary Pratt and the others knew they would be targeted.
About midnight there was a flash of lightning followed by a crash of thunder. The women
and children were terrified. “At midnight a terrific thunderstorm broke upon us … so unusual in
its violence.”30 They thought this night would be a repeat of the horror they had experienced only
five years earlier in Missouri when they were robbed, beaten, women abused, their property
destroyed and some killed. They were then driven from their homes into the freezing wasteland
in the middle of the winter. “In the darkened Pratt home,” Twelve year old Mary Ann Stearns
remembers, “Everything seemed to stand still – the hours retrained with fetters of fear. Fear
escalated to alarm at the sound of labored footsteps in the soggy street. A hollow clutter of boots
on the wooden porch produced terrible panic before Nicholas’s familiar parting salutation to
other guards broke the spell of terror that had consumed the night.” Jane Silcock was so
frightened, “We buried a stillborn boy,” Jane told her daughter Nina, “caused from the fright of
the mob.”31
27
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 156.
28
Pratt, Louisa Barnes, Journal, Heart Throbs, 8:231 as recorded in Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography
of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake: DMT Publishing) 157.
29
Madsen, In Their Own Words, p. 174, Jane Richards, as recorded in Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography
of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake: DMT Publishing) 157.
30
Richards, Jan Snyder, Jane Richards Papers in Richards Family Collection, LDS Church Archives, as quoted in
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake:
DMT Publishing) 158.
31
Dansie, Nina Etta, Family Circle, Autobiography, p. 134, as quoted in Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us,
Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake: DMT Publishing) 158.
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Zina Jacob’s diary for June 29, 1844 explains: “The night after they [Joseph and Hyrum]
were buried we had an awful thunderstorm and lightning so the mob did not come as they
intended.”32 Jane Richards wrote of this night, “A thousand men, we were told, were on their
way bent on our destruction … we were afterwards told … a terrific thunderstorm … drove the
mob back … wet their ammunition, and so rendered them powerless to destroy us.”33 In humid
Nauvoo, in late June, it would take quite a while for the wet gunpowder to dry out. The mob left
and returned to their homes.
Later they learned that the storm that had frightened them so, had been a miracle in their
defense. They had been saved from certain death and destruction by the storm, the source of
which each person knew, and no one doubted.
This is the basement where the women and children hid during the night the mob planned to kill
the people and burn the town. It was the night Joseph and Hyrum were buried.
When Joseph and Hyrum were killed on June 27, 1844, ten of the twelve Apostles were
on missions in the east. Only John Taylor and Willard Richards of the Twelve had remained
behind. Parley recorded in his journal, “A day or two previous to this circumstance [the
martyrdom] I had been constrained by the Spirit to start prematurely for home, without knowing
why or wherefore.” Two weeks after the murderers, on July 10, 1844, Parley arrived in Nauvoo
from his mission to Boston. Mary Ann Stearns wrote of his arrival home, “just as the sun
appeared over the eastern prairies, he came from that direction, opened the door and walked into
the dining room unannounced and unlooked for, the surprise being a … shock, and truly he
brought the sunlight of the Holy Ghost with him, faith, hope, courage, and strength.”34
“On November 21 [1844], the temple committee office and the tithing office were moved
into Parley Pratt’s store.”35 Parley was leaving on a mission to Boston. A notice was printed on
Dec. 2, 1844 declared, “A VOICE FROM THE TEMPLE By the Temple Committee, ‘We would
32
Beecher, ed., All Things Move In Order. as quoted in Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas
Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake: DMT Publishing) 159.
33
Richards, Jan Snyder, Jane Richards Papers in Richards Family Collection, LDS Church Archives, as quoted in
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake:
DMT Publishing) 159.
34
Winters, Winter’s Book of Remembrance, as quoted in Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas
Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake: DMT Publishing) 166.
35
Times and Seasons (December 2, 1844) 728, as quoted in Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of
Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake: DMT Publishing) 193.
10
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say to all those who wish to bring tithes for the building of the Temple in the city of Nauvoo, that
we have deemed it wisdom to remove our office, for the better accommodation of business, and
of all who visit us on business, to the new and commodious brick store of Elder Parley P. Pratt,
situated one block north from the west end of the Temple; at which place we will attend every
day in the week (Sunday excepted) from morning till evening, to receive donations for the
Temple and also attend to all other matters of business pertaining to the Trustees. We publish
this notice that the brethren may not need to inquire where they shall deposit their donations. We
have only one place of deposit in the city of Nauvoo and that is the above mentioned brick
store.”36
The store was also used for temple ordinances. One journal entry recorded, “26 January
1845: in the evening the Holy Priesthood meet over Elder Parley P Pratt Store. Elder Page
received his admittance in to the holy order.”37 [Spelling modernized].
Upon Parley’s return from his mission to the eastern states, he noted in his
autobiography, “From the time of my arrival home [August 1845] to the end of the year, I was
engaged in the cares of my family, in finishing my house, and in my official duties.”38
Farewell to Nauvoo
Parley and his family lived in this home until they were driven out of Nauvoo and crossed
the Mississippi River on February 14, 1846. Parley wrote, “In leaving home at this inclement
season, I left a good house, lot and out buildings, worth about seven thousand dollars, and
several lots and houses of less value, besides a farm in the country worth near two thousand. But
I was much in debt. I, therefore, left Mr. Bickford as my agent, authorized to sell the property,
settle up my business, and take care of such of my family or friends as might be left in his care,
including my aged mother, and the father, mother and sister of my wife. I was intending, when
things were settled, to place the surplus, if any, at the disposal of the Church or its agents, in aid
of the removal of such as were not able to remove without assistance.”39
In the above quote, Parley mentions his farm. There is also another reference to Parley’s
farm on Oct. 24, 1843, in the Documentary History of the Church, “We left Ottoway [Ottawa,
Illinois] and drove forty-three miles to Brother Parley P. Pratt’s farm. We found his brother,
Anson Pratt, and family well: they were glad to see us.”40 This is one of two references that we
have referring to a farm owned by Parley. Parley’s farm was about 100 miles northeast of
Nauvoo, somewhere between Nauvoo and Chicago. In Parley’s autobiography where he talks
about leaving “his farm in the country,” it is unclear whether these references refer to the same
farm or two different farms, one in Ottawa and one in the country surrounding Nauvoo. There
are no land, tax, or property records in the Nauvoo Restoration Inc. files regarding any farm
owned by Parley in or near Nauvoo, unless he is referring to a 10 acre piece he owned on Knight
Street, near Gordon Street, in the southeastern part of Nauvoo. This could have been used as his
farm.41 It is unclear why Parley owned a farm 45 miles from Ottawa unless he had purchased it
36
DHC, vol. 7, 318. (as reported by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo, 1838-1846, http://jared.prattfamily.org/parley_family_histories/just_parley/ParleyPPrattInNauvoo.html, June 1, 2006).
37
Latter-Day Saint Prayer Circles Fn by D. Michael Quinn, BYU Studies, vol. 19 (1978-1979), Number 1 – Fall
1978, p. 105.
38
Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Scot and Maurine Proctor, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
2000) 423.
39
Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Scot and Maurine Proctor, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
2000) 426-427.
40
DHC, vol. 7, 312.
41
Computer database, Historic Nauvoo Land and Records Center, Nauvoo, Illinois, May 25, 2006.
11
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to be used by his brother Anson who was apparently living there when Parley visited him. Anson
was very poor in worldly goods, but took care of their aged parents. Jared and Charity Pratt,
Parley’s parents, both died while living with Anson. Jared died earlier, while they were living
near Detroit, and Charity died later while she were living with Anson in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Both Anson and Charity died of cholera in St. Joseph, as did Anson’s wife and a child.
Mary Ann Pratt, her daughter Mary Ann Stearns, and maybe others in the family returned
to their home in Nauvoo sometime between March and September 1846, possibly to try to sell
their property. They were there until the battle of Nauvoo in September, at which time they were
again driven out of their home and into Iowa.
September 17, 1846 - Thirteen-year-old Mary Ann Stearns Pratt describes leaving the
house again and heading west. Imagine the emotion of this parting.
“About ten o’clock a message came that we would be taken to the river soon after
dinner. So, after partaking of an early lunch we prepared to leave our comfortable home
with knowledge in our hearts that we were never to return to it again. The stove on the
hearth – the furniture standing round – the pictures on the wall – all were given a parting
look, and then my mother [Mary Ann Frost Pratt], taking her little children repaired to the
graves of our loved ones from which we were soon to be parted forever, till the
Resurrection Morn, or till we went to meet them in their happy Home above. I know that
the fervent prayers she uttered for the preservation of those precious relics have been
heard, and answered up to the present time. Farewell, our loved home, farewell our
cherished dead – farewell, the beautiful Nauvoo. Ere long thy waste places will be built
up, and thy beauty shine with renewed thrift and splendor.”42
July 1909 photo of Parley’s house43
Continued
42
Mary Ann Stearns Winters, Mary Ann Stearns Winters 1833-1912, Journal, Arranged in present format from the
Winters Book of Remembrance, 11.
43
"Nauvoo Today," Improvement Era, vol. 12, no. 8 [July 1909], 607
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Timeline
Winter
1838/39
Saints driven
out of
Missouri to
Nauvoo
Aug. 12, 1839Parley leaves for
mission to
England. Gone 2
½ years.
Nov. 1841.
Parley meets
Nicholas
Silcock, who
will build his
home.
May 1842, Orson
Pratt’s wife, Sarah
buys home across
from where they
and Parley will
build their new
homes.
July 11, 1839
Parley escapes
from Missouri
jails & joins
family in
Nauvoo.
April 1844,
Closes
store.
Mission to
Boston.
July 10,
1844.
Parley
returns due
to Joseph’s
death.
Dec. 1844.
Store
becomes
tithing
office
Dec. 1844
Parley leaves
on mission to
the east to
gather saints.
Feb 7,1843.
Returns
from
England.
Buys lot to
build on.
Aug. 1845.
Parley
returns to
Nauvoo
from
mission .
July 31, 1846.
Parley leaves
Winter
Quarters for
mission to
England.
Feb. 14, 1846.
Family driven
out of Nauvoo
13
May
1843.Parley
begins his
house.
May 1843.
Mary Ann
Pratt buys
cabin to
live in
while
building
house.
Sept. 1846.
Battle of
Nauvoo.
Attacked by
mob. Drive out
again.
Summer 1846.
Mary Ann &
children return
to their home in
Nauvoo.
Nov. 1843.
House
finished.
(in 7
months)
June to Sept. 28
1847. Family
crosses the plains
& arrives in Great
Salt Lake Valley
April 8, 1847.
Parley arrives in
Winter Quarters
from England
2/17/2016
The Children’s Graves in the Backyard
This is the most probable location of the grave of the six children.
The back of the Catholic Church is on the right
The cemetery for the inhabitants of Nauvoo, before the exodus, was a few miles east of
town on Parley Street. It was not uncommon in early America however, for families to also have
their own burying grounds on their properties, where they would feel closer to their deceased
loved ones. This was especially true of children who had died. Mothers had trouble burying their
little ones far away, where they could not look after their graves and feel close to them. Such was
the case with the Pratt family. They buried several of their children in a row along the fence
between Parley and Orson’s homes. These children were:
1. Nathan Pratt, son of Parley and Mary. Died, December 21, 1843, Age 5 1/2 years.
2. Stillborn baby of Nicholas and Jane Silcock. Died, June 29, 1844.
3. Susan, daughter of Parley and Mary. Died, August 28, 1844. Age 18 months.
4. Sarah Marinda Pratt – Daughter of Orson and Sarah Marinda Pratt. Died, July 26,
1845- Age 9 months
5. Unknown
6. Martha Marinda Pratt, daughter of Parley’s older brother, William and William’s wife
Wealthy Eddy Pratt. Died, September 15, 1846. Age 4 years. (Little Martha died in
Iowa after they had been driven out of Nauvoo. Her body was brought back to the
family cemetery in Nauvoo to be buried near her cousins).
As was often the case during the Nauvoo era, the records are not entirely complete. Mary
Ann Stearns Pratt, (stepdaughter of Parley) records that there were six graves. There is no record
of who the sixth child would have been. The Pratt brothers did have other children die during this
time. They were:
1. Lydia, daughter of Orson and Sarah Marinda Pratt, age 9 months. She died in 1839 in
Montrose, Iowa, across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo. She was probably buried
14
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there. Orson did not own the land on which the children’s graveyard stood until four
years later in 1843. It is possible that Orson and Sarah retrieved Lydia’s remains
when they finally settled in their house by the temple, and buried her there with the
other children.
2. Mirza Lyona Pratt, daughter of William and Wealthy Pratt. Died in 1851 between age
3 and 6. She is listed as one dying in Nauvoo, though William and Wealthy were
certainly gone from Nauvoo by that time.
There were several other Pratt children who are listed as dying in Nauvoo, but it is not
known who their parents were. The identity of the sixth child will therefore remain a mystery
until a later time.
Journal entries recording the burial grounds by the fence are as follows:
June 29, 1844 – Eighteen-year-old Jane Silcock had a stillborn baby boy due to her fright
the night the mob came to destroy the residents of Nauvoo. Her husband, Nicholas made a tiny
casket for burial. Mary and Parley had buried their five-year-old son, Nathan, just six months
earlier while Nicolas was in Arkansas. The boy lay in a grave in their yard [i.e. Parley’s yard]
next to Orson Pratt’s fence. Mary wanted it where the grave could be cared for. Mary must have
suggested Baby Silcock be placed next to Nathan rather than in the pioneer burying grounds
about one mile away on Parley’s Street.44
Parley and Mary lost their 18-month-old, Susan, two months later on August 28, 1844.
Parley’s brother, William Pratt, buried their four-year-old, Martha, there after the battle of
Nauvoo [September, 1846] and Orson Pratt buried a nine-month-old infant daughter, Sarah,
there. Mary Ann Stearns records, “There were six graves in all.”45
1845, “During the summer, mother had, in anticipation of our leaving the home, obtained
stones from the temple yard and now she had initials cut on them, and then after making a chart
of the graves from the corner of the house, Brother Silcox dug down at the end of each grave and
placed the stones down almost to the coffins, then covered all over and dug up the rose trees we
had planted there, and smoothed off the ground, and no stranger could tell where they were.”46
September 1846, as they were driven out of Nauvoo, “It was the first time she [Mary Ann
Frost Pratt, Parley’s wife] could look with pleasure on the graves of her little children that were
buried in the lot, near the house, for they were safe from all harm – she knew not what would be
the fate of the others.”47 Not aware of the graves, a Catholic church was possibly built over
them.48
The last child buried with her cousins in the family burying ground died away from
Nauvoo, in Iowa, as the Saints were being driven out by the mob. Mary Ann Stearns Winters
writes, “Little Martha Pratt, four years old, had suffered with chills for a number of weeks and
though her condition did not seem alarming, still she did not get better, and one morning her
44
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 161.
45
Winters, Winter’s Book of Remembrance, p.13.
46
Mary Ann Stearns Winters, Mary Ann Stearns Winters 1833-1912, Journal, Arranged in present format from the
Winters Book of Remembrance, 54-55.
47
Mary Ann Stearns Winters, Mary Ann Stearns Winters 1833-1912, Journal, Arranged in present format from the
Winters Book of Remembrance, 10.
48
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 163.
15
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mother noticed a change. She continued to grow worse all day, and when Sister Pratt took her in
her arms to prepare her for the night, she could see that the end was near, and in a short time she
passed peacefully away. But oh, the agony of that loving mother’s heart, to lose her beautiful,
blue-eyed darling, in such a place and at such a time, and she cried out, ‘Oh, I can never leave
her in this lonely place.’ But mother tried to comfort her by telling her that perhaps we could
take her over to Nauvoo and lay her by the side of our loved ones and then it would not seem so
terrible. So in the morning, Brother Pratt went over to see if it could be accomplished, and found
there was nothing to hinder. The city was as still as death, and the few persons seem on the
streets moved around as if at a funeral. Mother could not leave her sick baby, so I was sent to tell
them where the graves were, and show them the place mother thought best for their little one to
be buried. … We did not go by ferry, but had a large skiff and landed in a secluded place on the
other side where a team was waiting and we were soon conveyed to our destination. Three of the
brethren accompanied Brother Pratt across the river, and with the driver, the little grave was soon
ready, and the little pilgrim was laid to rest until the resurrection morn. This made six graves in
all, as Brother Orson Pratt had lost an infant daughter, though she was buried on their side of the
fence, but she lay in a line with ours. Requiescat in peace!”49
Where are the graves today?
The best answer to that question is that they are probably under a cement floor right in
the middle of the church that now stands on the property line between Orson and Parley’s homes.
The ridgeline of the church is directly over what was probably their adjoining property line, and
thus, where the fence along which they were buried lay. Parley had the north 2/3 of the lot and
Orson had the southern 1/3 of the lot.
If that is the case, and assuming that the children were buried along the fence, all of them
are under the church. They would not likely be further east of the church because the property
has a pretty good slope on it at the back of the church and they did not usually bury their dead on
a slope.
We can make assumptions but there is not enough information to have certain confidence
in any conclusion. What has been recorded is this:
1. Orson’s daughter was “buried on their side of the fence,”
a. We assume that we know where the property line was, but we cannot be
certain.
b. We do not know if the fence was on the property line or just close.
2. The record says, “but she lay in a line with ours.”
a. Which direction would the line go? One would assume the line would go
east and west, but that may not be the case.
3. The Silcock baby was buried next to one of Parley and Mary’s children, “He lay
in a grave in their yard next to Orson Pratt’s fence.” Recorded Mary Ann Stearns.
a. Does that indicate that they were lined up along the fence? That sounds
reasonable.
4. Before they were driven out of Nauvoo, Mary Pratt made a map of the graves and
“then after making a chart of the graves from the corner of the house,”
a. The fact that the corner of the house was her reference point would
indicate that the graves were not too far from the house.
49
Mary Ann Stearns Winters, Mary Ann Stearns Winters 1833-1912, Journal, Arranged in present format from the
Winters Book of Remembrance, 19-20.
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5. When Nicholas buried the head stones over the graves he “dug up the rose trees
we had planted there” to hide the graves.
a. The rose trees would likely have been planted on the fence. Climbing
roses were common in those days and were often placed on a fence that
they could grow on. If this was the case, it would indicate that the children
were buried along the fence, going east and west.
6. Mary Ann Stearns says that the children were buried, “in the lot, near the house.”
Graves are often found by ground penetrating radar and if any further excavation or
building were to be done on the property, it may be a good idea to scan the ground so as not to
disturb these little graves.
If the graves are under the church, would they have been disturbed when the church was
built? Of course, there is no way to know the answer to this question, but consider this; most
graves in those days were dug five feet deep. The frost line in Nauvoo is four feet. Thus the
footings for the foundations of the church would probably have been dug to the frost line, or four
feet deep. There were no power steam shovels, or backhoes in those days. All digging was done
by pick and shovel. They would not have gone any deeper than was required. The graves were
probably under the middle of the church, not under the footings. The workmen would probably
have smoothed out the ground and poured a cement floor for the church over the graves. It is
unlikely that they would have gone deed enough to disturb the graves.
If the workman did come to the graves, there was a limestone headstone on top of each. If
they dug further, they would have found some remains. The foundation for the church was built
in 1867, over 20 years after these children died. I am advised by a mortician, who has exhumed
bodies, that everything would have been gone except the bones and probably some clothing. It is
possible that if the workmen found bones they may have reburied them in another place.
We can only assume that we know where the children were buried. We could easily be
off by a few feet, or even much more. We can have faith in Mary Pratt’s prayer as she left
Nauvoo. Daughter Mary Ann Stearns wrote, “I know that the fervent prayers she uttered for the
preservation of those precious relics have been heard.” That prayer would certainly have been
that the graves not be disturbed until the morning of the resurrection.
At least two of these children died as martyrs. One was the Silcock baby who was
stillborn due to the fright of his mother on the night of the intended attack on Nauvoo. The other
is Martha Marinda Pratt, daughter of William and Wealthy Pratt. Martha died in Iowa, probably
of exposure and malnutrition, as the result of being driven out of Nauvoo because of their
religious beliefs.
These children all lived short lives full of trials and challenges. When 5-½ year old
Nathan Pratt died in Nauvoo in 1844, Eliza R. Snow wrote a poem to his mother, Mary Pratt
about the death of her son. This is the last verse of the poem,
“But harsh the sorrow of thy breast
And wort the promise of the Lord,
To usher in the day of rest,
When all will be again restored,
Although a tender branch is torn
Asunder from the parent tree;
Back to the trunk it shall be borne,
And grafted for eternity.”50
50
Miss. E. R. Snow, “To Mrs. Mary Pratt, On the Death of Her Little Son,” Times and Seasons, March 1, 1844.
17
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Parley wrote a biography about his son Nathan shortly after he died. I am including it
here nearly in its entirety. It is a good example of the lives of the children who lived during this
turbulent time.
“Died in this place, on the 21st of December last, Nathan Pratt, Son of Parley P.
Pratt, age five and a half years.
He was born in Caldwell Co., Missouri, A.D. 1838. The honored place of his birth
was not a stable, like his Redeemer’s of old, but a small house belonging to Mr. Isaac
Alred.
At the age of two weeks, he was removed into a new house, without a floor, door,
window, or chimney. This being soon demolished by the rage of persecution, he removed
nine miles, to the town of Far West, being then six weeks old.
Here he lived in a house nine feet square, built of logs; but even here, the rage of
his enemies soon searched him out, and when he was three months old, his father was
torn from him and confined in a Missouri dungeon, leaving him, and his mother wholly
sick of a fever, exposed to the wrath of a band of savage murderers, who at that time
over-ran and ravaged the whole town; they fired several rifle balls into the house, and
scores of them were afterwards picked up in the door yard.
Soon after this he came with his mother and spent much of the winter in prison
with his father, where he sometimes served as a shield, to guard his bosom from the
threatened violence of the angry guards.
At the age of nine months, the exterminating order of the modern Nero, (L. W.
Boggs) was so far enforced as to banish him and his mother from the state at the point of
the bayonet; leaving his father still in prison.
They fled to Quincy, Illinois, a distance of two hundred miles; where they lived
till the following July, without the assistance of a husband or father.
On the grand anniversary of the American Independence, the glorious 4th of July,
his father being instructed and warned, by an Angel of the Lord, in a vision of the night,
burst his chains, threw open his prison doors, and emerged forth from the prison; and
after wandering for near a week, night and day, almost without food, he avoided all
pursuit and arrived at the residence of his family, thus closes the first twelve months of
the events connected with the life of Nathan Pratt.
The second campaign opens with a removal from Quincy to Nauvoo, a distance of
50 miles, where he and his parents took up their residence, in a small log cabin,
consisting of one room, already occupied by another family.
After a stay of about one month, he started on a mission to England, in company
with his father and mother. … After a long and tedious passage they landed safe in
Liverpool, he resided in England, and visited most of the principal towns.
In October 1842, he sailed for New Orleans where he arrived in safety, after a
voyage of ten weeks. From thence he sailed up the Mississippi. … In April following he
arrived at Nauvoo, having been absent about three years and six months, during which he
had traveled near twenty thousand miles.
From this time he attended school, and was rapidly advancing in knowledge,
when falling from the stairs of his father’s new building into the cellar, he broke his
thigh.
This accident confined him for several weeks, but recovering, he continued his
studies till he was seized with his last illness, which was very severe until his death.
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He has often requested singing and prayer, and dwelt with great delight on the
lines of Wesley, which commence as follows: ‘The morning flowers display their sweets,
And gay, their silken leaves unfold.’
He has often while in perfect health enquired of his mother if he should die, and
concerning death, and the resurrection, and whether, if he died he should see Sister
Harrington and other friends who were dead. He often solicited the laying on of hands
and prayer, when sick and has many times been healed.
He has had the gift to discern both good and evil spirits, who sometimes visited
him; and on one occasion a kind angel ministered to him, and told him things for his
comfort and instruction.
He has fought the good fight and finished his course, and now rests in paradise.
He died an infant, but he can say with Paul, ‘In prison oft, in stripes more
abundant, in tribulation, in persecutions, in perils by sea and land, in perils among
robbers, and among false brethren, and in travels more abundant.’
His remarkable life of little more than five years, has won him thousands of
friends, and acquaintances, both in Europe and America, in whose memory he will long
live. While his faith, and his suffering for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s will be had as a
sweet memorial through all succeeding ages.”51
Continued
51
Parley P. Pratt, “Biography of Nathan Pratt,” Times and Seasons, January 15, 1844.
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The Land Records
Dec. 25, 1841, On Christmas Eve, several members of the Quorum of the Twelve spent
the evening with Hiram Kimball. Mr. Kimball was a wealthy landowner who lived in Nauvoo
prior to the Mormon’s arrival. He was not related to Heber C. Kimball. As a gift, Mr. Kimball
gave each member of the Quorum “a fractional piece of land lying on the west side of his second
addition to Nauvoo.”52 It appears that Parley was given Block 13 Lot 1, while Orson Pratt was
given Block 13 Lot 4, which lies directly south of Parley’s allotment.53 It is difficult to know if
this was a free gift or just an option for the later purchase of the property since Parley buys this
exact piece of land from Ethan Kimball (Hiram’s brother) on Oct. 31, 1842 for $50. On the bill
of sale it has Ethan Kimball as the person selling the land while his brother Hiram also signs the
document as Ethan’s attorney.54
Two deeds were recorded in Carthage for the purchase of lot 1 on Block 8. This lot was
across Wells Street, west of where Parley built his brick home. The first deed was signed by
Sarah M. Pratt, Orson’s wife on May 24, 1842. She bought the south one-third of the lot for
$1,000. At this price there was most likely a decent house on the property. The deed was
recorded three days later on May 27, 1842. Sarah purchased her lot from Daniel H. Wells.
It would not seem reasonable that Orson would pay $1,000 for a house and then not live
there. He probably lived on a lot down by the river before moving to this lot, which was up on
the bench, just one block northwest of the temple.
Four months after purchasing this property, on Sept. 17, 1842, Orson put an ad in the
Hancock County paper (The Wasp) announcing that his university courses would start on Sept.
26, “at a building situated a few rods north of the Temple” The tuition for the quarter ranged
from $2.50 for reading and writing to $10.00 for differential and integral calculus.55 This school
would probably have been held in his house on this property.
The second deed was signed by Parley’s wife, Mary Ann who bought the north twothirds of lot 1 Block 8, one year later on May 5, 1843. She bought her lot from Ethan Kimball
who was represented by his attorney, his brother, Hiram Kimball. Mary Ann paid $300 for this
property. Parley, his wife and children lived in a one-room cabin on this lot for about several
months, while they were building the brick home across the street.56 They moved into the new
home before it was completed.
The deed was not recorded at the county court house until three years later on June 8,
57
1846. Parley’s family was driven out of Nauvoo four months earlier, in February 1846, but it
appears that Mary Ann and her children returned to the house during the summer. She could
52
DHC, vol. 4, 484.
DHC, vol. 4, 484.
54
See BYU Archives, MSS 7, Box 2, Folder 6, for a copy of the bill of sell and deed to the property. Also see
Historical Department, NRI collection. (as quoted by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo 1838-1846).
55
The Wasp, Sept. 17, 1842 (as reported by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo
1838-1846).
56
Winters, Winters Book of Remembrance, p. 3, as quoted in Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of
Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt Lake: DMT Publishing) 54.
57
Carthage County, Illinois Recorder’s Office. 2006.
53
20
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have recorded this deed then so that she could sell the house. Three months late, in September
they were again driven from Nauvoo.
It is both interesting and confusing to read the records of the land Parley owned. The
records are in Carthage, the county seat of Hancock County, where Nauvoo is located. As
background, in March 1840, Daniel H. Wells purchased and subdivided the section of land in
Nauvoo where Parley built his home. There is no record of a deed ever being recorded that
shows Parley purchasing this lot from Daniel or anyone else. That is not too unusual because
Carthage was a long way from Nauvoo on a horse or on foot. Many people merely put deeds in
their dresser drawers, and planned to record them later when they were at the county seat. This
happened all over the country. These deeds are commonly referred as “dresser-drawer” deeds. It
is also reasonable to understand that Parley would not have had the time to record the sale of his
property, when they were driven from their home in 1846. County records show that there was
no deed recorded for either the purchase or sale of this lot until April 12, 1847. That was 14
months after Parley and the Saints had left Nauvoo. At that time, Daniel H. Wells sold the
property to E. Bickford.58
When Parley left Nauvoo in February of 1846, he put Ezra Bickford in charge of selling
all of his property. The deed for lot 2, Block 9 from Daniel H. Wells to Ezra on April 12, 1847
was probably recognizing Parley’s ownership of the property. Ezra may have brought Daniel a
dresser-drawer deed that Daniel himself had given to Parley when he sold Parley the land in May
of 1843. Two months later, on June 9, 1847, when Ezra was deeded ownership of the land and
house, he sold it to a William Quarter two months later, for $850.59 Parley had estimated its
value at $7,000.60
It was Parley’s desire that the money Bickford would get from selling Parley’s properties
should pay off his debts and the balance go to his family and friends, including his aged mother
then living with his brother Anson. Anything beyond their needs should go to the Church to help
the poor remove from Nauvoo. Apparently the High Council helped decide the disposition of
Parley’s property. In a letter from Orson to Parley dated April 24, 1848, Orson wrote, “The High
Council decided that [Ezra] Bickford should give ½ of your property to Anson [possibly to help
their mother] and the other to Mary Ann [Pratt].”61 Ezra eventually left Nauvoo and died
crossing the plains. John Young recorded his death, “Monday morning July 15. [1850] at one O’
clock this morning Brother Ezra Bickford died of Cholera having lived nine hours after being
taken. After having interred him the camp moved forward 10 miles camped on the open plain.”62
Continued
Carthage, Illinois County Clerk’s Office.
Carthage, Illinois County Clerk’s Office.
60
Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Scot and Maurine Proctor, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
2000) 426.
61
Letter from Orson Pratt to Parley P. Pratt, April 24, 1848. This letter is in the private collection of Robert Grow,
Folder 2 Item 2. (as recorded by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo1838-1846. Footnote 182).
62
Joseph Young, “Diary and accounts, 1848-1855 Young, Joseph, 1797-1881) BYU Vault MSS 23 [1]
http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/Diaries/image/4292.pdf (accessed June 10, 2006).
58
59
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Young Street
Parley’s 2/3 of lot 1
(bought May 5, 1843, $300)
Orson’s 1/3 of lot 1
(bought May 24, 1842, $1,000)
Block 8
cabin
Lot 1
Block 9
Lot 2
home
Lot 4
Lot 3
Orson owned all of lot 4,
(bought Jan.6, 1845, $150)
N
W
E
Parley’s 2/3 of lot 2
(bought May 1843, $300)
Orson’s 1/3 of lot 2
(bought ?)
Owned by
Various people
Wells Street
S
Lots owned by Parley and Orson on Wells Street. The lots in Block 8 were where they lived while
they built their homes on Block 9. (not to scale).
On February 10, 1843 Parley was deeded Lot 1 on Block 101; by Joseph Smith (Trustee
in Trust for the Church) for $500 63 He planted a crop on this land. This lot was down on the
“Flats” near the river. Parley and Mary Ann sold this property to Nathan Wixom five months
later, on July 11, 1843. They may have sold it to get money to pay for the house they were
building. The sale price of the land is listed at $1000; however, Parley reserved the right to
harvest his crops, which were still in the ground as of July 11, 1843 when the transaction was
completed.64 Most of the blocks in Nauvoo were four acres, divided into four lots of one acre
each. That gave the owner room for a home, garden, barn, cow, horse and carriage. Their farms,
where their crops were planted, were outside of the town.
Four days later, on February 14, 1843, Mary Ann Stearns wrote that Parley purchased the
lot for their brick home, “Going up to Nauvoo, Brother Pratt purchased a building lot of Squire
Wells, situated one block north of the temple.”65
On Oct. 14, 1843 Parley sold a portion of his lot on Block 9 to Ezra Bickford for $600.
This was property situated between Parley and Orson Pratt, which contained another two-story
home on lot 2. This was not Parley’s two-story home, but another one on the same lot just a little
further south.66 It was probably located where the Catholic Church is today.
“Nov. 8, 1843, John C. Bennett moved his office onto Block 9 just south of Parley’s lot,
and just north of Orson’s property.”67 This could have been on the portion of the lot Parley sold
63
See Historical Department, NRI Collection, and Brigham Young University Archives, MSS 7, Parley P. Pratt
Collection, Box 2, Folder 3. (as recorded by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo1838-1846).
64
Historical Department, NRI Collection.
65
Mary Ann Stearns Winter, Journal, 10.
66
Historical Department, Nauvoo Restoration Inc. Collection. (as recorded by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in
Nauvoo1838-1846). Footnote 131.
67
Nauvoo Neighbor, Nov. 8, 1843]. (as recorded by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo1838-1846).
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to Ezra Bickford. Bennett, the first Mayor of Nauvoo, elected in 1840, was excommunicated
from the church and left Nauvoo in May of 1842.68 Apparently, he returned to Nauvoo in 1843.
On “Feb. 14, 1844, it appears that the property Daniel H. Wells had sold to Parley a year
earlier (the northern 2/3 of Block 9 Lot 2), was paid for today at the price of $300. Orson Pratt
was still living on the southern 1/3 of the same lot on this day.”69
Parley and Orson each owned one-half of a lot in the northern part of Nauvoo. In 1843,
Parley sold a portion of his lot [Block 13 Lot 1] to Elisha H. Graves. On Oct. 14, 1844, Parley
and Mary Ann sold the remaining portion of Block 13 Lot 1 to Eliza Chandler for $60.70
On January 6, 1845, two and a half years after purchasing the south one-third of lot 1,
Block 8, Orson Pratt purchased lot 4, on this same block from Samuel and Marie James for $150.
The deed was recorded seven months later on August 7, 1845. The fact that they paid $1,000 for
the first purchase of the one-third of the lot to the north, and $150 for a full lot on the south
would further indicate that there was a house on the small piece of land on the north.
The Nauvoo Restoration Inc. land records show that Parley’s wife Mary Ann sold their
property on Block 8 Lot 1 to Balser Baumgardner and Hiram Jacobs on June 15, 1846, for
$100.71
Pratt Brother’s land holdings in Nauvoo (1840 – 1846)
Anson Pratt – (Kimball 1st: Block 71)72 There appears to be no records of Anson owning any
land in Nauvoo. He was a “tenant” on a flat piece of land about 10 blocks east of the temple on
Knight Street.
William Dickinson Pratt – (Kimball 1st: Block 3, Lot 8, ¾ acre, Part N part).73 This lot is
located approximately one block south east of the temple on Ripley Street. This lot is on the
south side of the Street. It is flat on top and then slopes down toward the street.
May 29, 1842 William wrote from Nauvoo to Parley in Liverpool, England. William
informed Parley that their mother arrived in Nauvoo at William’s home last November [1841].
He also states that their brother Anson wanted to come to Nauvoo, but was too poor. William
continued to explain that he had moved from Fulton Co. in the middle of August 1840, and that
his wife was taken sick the next month (September).74
Parley P. Pratt – Five or six parcels of land:
(Nauvoo: Block 101, Lot 1)75 North east corner lot, on the flats toward the river.
(Kimball 1st: Block 6, Lot 29)76 Ten acres located approximately 6 blocks south and 8
blocks east of the temple.
John C. Bennett, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Bennett June 9, 2005.
Historical Department, Nauvoo Restoration Inc. Collection. (as recorded by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in
Nauvoo1838-1846). Footnote 107.
70
See BYU Archives, Mss 7, Box 2, and the Historical Department, NRI Collection for the deeds and bills of sell.
71
Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo 1838-1846).
72
Computer database, Historic Nauvoo Land and Records Center, Nauvoo, Illinois, May 25, 2006.
73
Computer database, Historic Nauvoo Land and Records Center, Nauvoo, Illinois, May 25, 2006.
74
Information supplied by Glenn Rowe. Also see LDS Church Archives, Parley P. Pratt Collection,
Correspondence, 1842-1855, Msd 897 fd. 1. (as quoted by Rick J. Fish, Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo 1838-1846).
75
Computer database, Historic Nauvoo Land and Records Center, Nauvoo, Illinois, May 25, 2006.
68
69
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(Kimball 2nd: Block 13, Lot 1)77 North 1/2 of the lot. Orson owned the southern 1/2 of
the lot. Slopes gently towards the south).
(Wells: Block 9, Lot 2, N 2/3 - Brick home, Store and Tithing Office)78 Orson owned the
southern 1/3 of this lot. More information is above.
(Wells: Block 8, Lot 1)79 This lot is on the west side of Wells Street. It is across the street
from Parley’s two-story brick home. Parley owned the northern 2/3 of this lot. Orson owned the
southern 1/3 of the lot together with the lot adjacent to it on the south. Thus, Parley owned 2/3 of
the lot here and Orson owned 1 1/3 of the lot. Parley lived here while he was building his brick
home. More information is above.
Parley probably owned another lot, possibly on Parley Street in 1839, which he acquired
after escaping from prison and before his mission to England, a month-and-a-half later. He built
a log cabin on it, but when he returned from his mission, the cabin was gone.
Orson Pratt – Four pieces of land
(Nauvoo: Block 135, Lot 4) One acre, between Sidney and Parley Streets by the river.
(Kimball: 2nd: Block 13, Lot 4) Four blocks north and two blocks east of the temple.
Parley owned the lot adjoining on the north of this lot. This lot is sloped gently to the south.
(Wells: Block 8, Lot 1, South 1/3 of the lot) Orson’s home was on this lot while he built a
larger home across the street. Parley owned the lot north of this lot.
(Wells: Block 9, Lot 2, South 1/3 of the lot) Orson’s final home in Nauvoo. The Catholic
Church and Rectory are now on this lot.
Nelson Pratt – Nelson is the only one of the five brothers who did not live in Nauvoo. Though
he was very close to his four brothers, he never joined the church they all belonged to. He read
the Book of Mormon with his family and read Parley & Orson’s writings. He even named his last
son after his brother Orson. He planned to move to Utah to be with them, but health and financial
reasons kept him from doing it.
Nelson lived in northern Ohio for most of his adult life. Interestingly enough, he moved
to Garden Grove, Iowa 10 years after the Saints vacated that temporary town to go west. His four
brothers, Anson, William, Parley and Orson had all been to Garden Grove and helped establish it
in 1846. When Nelson moved there he found cabins built, farms fenced, wells dug, rattlesnakes
killed, and the place already for him to farm. Fortune turned against him however as his wife,
Marietta Ensign died and was buried in Garden Grove with many of the earlier Saints who had
lived there. This left Nelson a widower for the third time by the age of 47. He had three young
children to care for. He moved back to northern Ohio and married a former neighbor who was a
widow. He lived out his life in Ohio.
76
Computer database, Historic Nauvoo Land and Records Center, Nauvoo, Illinois, May 25, 2006.
Computer database, Historic Nauvoo Land and Records Center, Nauvoo, Illinois, May 25, 2006.
78
Computer database, Historic Nauvoo Land and Records Center, Nauvoo, Illinois, May 25, 2006.
79
Computer database, Historic Nauvoo Land and Records Center, Nauvoo, Illinois, May 25, 2006.
77
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Parley & Orson’s
homes
Temple
Orson
Parley &
Orson’s log
cabins
Parley
Parley & Orson ½ each
William D. Pratt
Anson Pratt
Parley’s
10-acre
farm
Approximate location of homes and land owned or rented (in the case of Anson) by four of the
five Pratt brothers.
25
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The Home Today
(June 2006)
Parley Pratt’s home today, now the Villa Marie
North East Corner of Wells and Young Street
(Lot 2, Block 9, Wells Addition to Nauvoo).
The first Catholic Missionaries came to Nauvoo in 1820. In 1848, The Catholic Church
purchased the Parley Pratt home. The main floor was used as St. Patrick's Catholic Church from
then until the new larger church was completed.
The corner stone for Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church next door was laid in 1867,
just two years after the Civil War. The Church was completed in 1873. It is quite remarkable that
they could raise the money to build the church so soon after the war.
The foundation stones that can be seen above the ground could be temple stones. It is
fairly easy to identify these stones because of the chisel marks on them. Some windowsills also
could be temple stones. These stones were of excellent workmanship and were free for the
taking. Using them saved a lot of labor and expense. It is nice to have them preserved where they
can be seen today.
The priest used the upstairs of the Pratt home as living quarters. The Sisters of St.
Benedict came to Nauvoo in 1874; at a later date the "Villa" as it was later called, was given to
the nuns for their use. During World War I the government used the Villa for returning
soldiers.80
The Catholic Church remodeled the house in 1907. It has apparently been remodeled
more than once. No one seems to have records or remembers much about the remodeling.
Whoever did the remodeling did an excellent job. The floor plan and the workmanship
are very nice. The house was originally in the shape on an “L” with the foot of the “L” being on
the north side of the house, extending to the west. The store was in that section with the entrance
to the store on the west end.
There has been an addition put on the north side of the house going east about 60 feet.
Inside on the main floor, the leg of the original “L” shape was made into a chapel where church
was held at least into the 1960’s, as my grandparents attended church there one Sunday. He
80
Sister Antoinette Fineran, Villa (n.p.,n.d.) November 2, 1998. p.1
26
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wanted to see what the inside of his grandfather’s house looked like. Marilyn Gurney, a
granddaughter who was with him at the time, remembers grandfather saying that Parley had a
well dug as part of the house. She remembers him saying that it was on the porch for
convenience. What a great idea that would have been in the cold Midwest winters or the muddy
springtime!
The house has been modernized to add conveniences that were not available in Parley’s
day, such as bathrooms, heating, and electricity. The main entry is apparently in the same place it
was in the original home, but all of the rooms on the main floor have obviously been changed.
Kitchen and bath facilities were put in the north end of the house, along with a dining area, two
bedrooms and an office. This would have been where the original store was located. The stairs
going up to the second floor have been moved to the new addition to the house.
The woodwork in the home is very beautiful. Nicholas Silcock who, as has been
mentioned, built the home was a skilled carpenter and did very fine finish work. He built the
round windows, with a blue star, that were placed near the top of the temple. Even he was
surprised at how beautiful they turned out to be.81 It is not known if any of Nicholas’ finish work
in the Pratt home remains, however. What is known is that there is some very beautiful
woodwork in the moldings, the stair railings, and in the doors. As previously mentioned, “In
November 1843 Nicholas put the fine finishing touches on the Pratt home and store: hand-made
decorative moldings, handcrafted paneled doors-all smoothed, coated, and hung-and elegant
handrails on stairs.82
The doors today are paneled and the handrails on the stairs are also very nice. They could
be the work of Nicholas or of some more recent carpenter. It is hard to tell. There are two large
“pocket doors” (a door that slides out of the wall) opposite each other on the main floor. The
woodwork on those doors and the dark stained moldings around them are very beautiful. It is
doubtful that these were Nicholas’ work, however. Pocket doors were not known in Nauvoo in
the 1840’s. They were just becoming fashionable in the fancier hotels in the big cities such as
New York and Chicago. Another reason to believe that they were not the work of Nicholas is
that one of them is in the new addition to the house that was built after the Pratts moved west.
The hand railings on the stairs appear to have the same kind of stain as the pocket doors,
which casts doubt on whether Nicholas built them also. It is likely, however that the woodwork
would have been restained several times over the years and that may account for the similarities
in the stain on the pocket doors and the stair railings. The stairs going to the second floor are in
the “new” part of the house. If Nicholas had built them, they would have been moved from their
original location, because they are now in the newer part of the house. The interior doors on the
other rooms are paneled and could easily have been made by Nicholas, though there is no way of
knowing for sure. The only way to know would be by sending a sample of the wood to a lab, to
date it and identify the location that it came from.
All of the wood that the Saints used in building in the 1840’s came from a sawmill that
the LDS Church owned in Wisconsin. They cut the Wisconsin pine and other wood and floated it
down the Mississippi River to Nauvoo. When the LDS Church members went west, they closed
down the sawmill and the facility in Wisconsin. It would be easy today for a forestry laboratory
in Wisconsin to identify the source of any of the wood in the Villa. If it is Wisconsin pine, it is
original and would be the work of Nicholas Silcock, if not, it is probably not original to the
81
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 77.
82
Melvin B. Banner, Come After Us, Biography of Nicholas Thomas Silcock and Jane Heath Silcock (North Salt
Lake: DMT Publishing) 63.
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house. There are floor joists in the ceiling of the basement that are obviously original to the
home. A piece of that wood could be used by a lab to match it against other wood, to see if it is
original. Many years have passed and the subsequent carpenters were also skilled in their finish
work. It would be difficult today to know, without a lab testing the wood, what is Nicholas’ work
and what was done by later craftsmen.
Nicholas does not mention the doorknobs in the house, but they are very ornate and
beautiful. They are old, but once again it is difficult to tell how old. The moldings do not appear
to be “decorative” as Nicholas described them. The moldings are very nice and what was
considered decorative in the 1840’s may not be what we consider decorative today. Those
remodeling the house may have found the original moldings difficult to remove and reuse. The
interior walls in the house were moved to accommodate the new owners and the original
moldings would probably not have been usable. Only testing of the wood could determine if they
are original. It would seem reasonable that those remodeling the house in later years would use
as much of the original material as possible.
The floors are now thin hardwood. They are about one-and-a half to two inches wide.
The old flooring, which can be seen in the ceiling of the basement, is about four to five inches
wide. In the 1840’s it was difficult, expensive and time consuming to cut lumber. They would
not have cut the floorboards as thin as they are today.
The brick on the outside of the house is yellow and is certainly not original. The brick
is far too hard to have been made in Nauvoo in the 1840’s. In those days they could not build
fires hot enough to bake the bricks hard enough for them to last for many decades. In the
basement of the house the red bricks can still be seen. They are very soft and there has been
some crumbling over the years. The new brick is probably a façade placed over the old bricks.
There is one spot on the outside of the house the original red brick can be seen. It is on the
southwest corner of what was the store. The plaster has fallen off and exposed the brick.It would
be interesting to know how they put the new brick over the old brick, if that is what they did. In
the 1840’s the walls were completely brick, not a façade as they are with houses built today. If
you took the brick down, you took the whole wall down. All of the brick made in Nauvoo in the
1840’s was red. The Saints had only two pits where they got the clay for their bricks, and both of
them produced red bricks. All of the brick houses in Nauvoo in the 1840’s were red.
The basement of the house reveals the “L” shape of the original house. The stone and
rock foundation of the original house is exposed and can be easily identified. Red brick, capping
the foundation can also be seen in places. The newer part of the home, extending to the east from
the north end of the house has a cement foundation, thus clearly differentiating it from the older
part. Cement was not used in building homes until the 1880’s.
Continued
28
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Ceiling of the basement.
Note the stone foundation, the red brick laid on top, with floorboards of the original
floor on top of the wooden floor joist. Notice the small square nails that remain in the joist after
the lath and plaster were removed.
Most of the lath and plaster has been removed from the ceiling of the basement so as to
install the more modern plumbing, wiring and heating equipment. The lath and plaster is original
to the house. Some of it can still be seen. The lath was nailed to the floor joists with small square
nails. Today the original square nails can still be seen sticking out of the joists where the lath was
torn off. Round nails were not invented until after the Civil War when people learned how to
make wire. The basement ceiling now shows the exposed original floor joists of the main floor,
and also the original floorboards, which, as mentioned above, have been overlaid with thinner
more recent wood flooring.
The floor of the basement is now cement, which would not be original. If the basement
were built like other homes in Nauvoo in that era it would have had a red brick floor. It is
probable that the original red brick floor is under the cement today.
Continued
29
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The floor plan of the original basement is basically as follows (not to scale):
Marking on wall showing stairs once
existed there (probably a trap door
entrance from above).
Foundation wall has 4 or 5 foot of rubble rock fill,
suggesting a possible original outside entrance to a root cellar and/or
to bring in merchandise for the store.
walls
Upstairs fireplace support
E
N
S
Basement of store
W
Wells Street
The dimensions of the original home were approximately 66 feet long from north to
south, 18 feet wide at the south end, 32 feet wide at the north end. The northwest side where the
store entrance was is 20 feet across.
The stone pillars and cornice are no longer on the home. If one wonders what it looked
like, the front of the Masonic Lodge in Old Nauvoo has been restored and has a similar type of
stone and cornice work. The windowsills on most of the windows appear to be original to the
1843 house.
The second floor of the house was originally used for bedrooms and it probably has been
the sleeping quarters for those living in the house ever since. The rooms are on the west side of
the house and a hall runs along the east side. The east windows light the hall and the west
windows light the bedrooms. That was a good idea in the days before electric lighting.
The floor on the main level of the original part of the house is noticeably sagging and
sinking. There is some termite damage in the old original floor beams, though there are no
termites now. It is hoped that if a new floor is installed that the old flooring and joists will not be
destroyed. They are a treasure to the home.
Today there is a very nice porch running along the west side of the house. It may have
been there originally but would have been made of wood (see Mary Ann Stearns’ comments
about hearing footsteps on the porch, mentioned above). It would not have had a roof on it as can
be seen in earlier photos of the house. The pillars on the porch today could be resting on stones
from the temple. Eleven of the twelve pillars have these stones at their base. The base of the12th
pillar is cement, made to match the others. The capstones on each pillar, next to the porch roof,
could also be stones from the temple. These limestone blocks have the same chisel marks that are
common on the temple stones. These stones are in buildings all over Nauvoo and as far away as
Carthage, and are fairly easy to identify. Shortly after the Saints moved west, an arson burned the
temple. Some of the walls collapsed. Later a tornado knocked down the remaining walls. The
30
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stones that the temple was built of were lying in piles of rubble and became a good source of
building material for subsequent buildings in the area. It is nice to have them preserved today.
Structural References to Parley’s House
This is a compilation of the references from documents and journals in this article that relate to
the structure of the house:
Basement :
1. rock walls plastered
2. foundation stones were plastered
3. a room in the basement for storage
4. storage cellar under the grocery store wing of the home and one in the basement of the
barn. A trap door and carpet overspread.
5. deep cellar under the whole house
6. a room in the basement plastered and fitted with shelves [to hold the merchandise for the
store upstairs].
House:
1. the house was brick
2. white stone base caps and window sills
3. four, foot square-stone pillars at the front of the store, supporting a stone cornice at the
first story
4. twenty-seven large windows in the building,
5. red brick house
6. nine rooms
7. hand-made decorative moldings
8. handcrafted paneled doors-all smoothed, coated, and hung
9. elegant handrails on stairs
10. the building was painted inside and out (exterior woodwork)
11. wooden porch
12. dining room
13. out buildings [plural] were on the property. One would be the barn. It is not known what
the other out buildings were.
14. lath and plaster
15. a two-story store and dwelling house 32 feet by 66 feet.
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APPENDIX A
Earl Photo of Parley P. Pratt home
Looking southwest (back of house viewed from Brigham Street)
By Mark DeBry, AIA
a.
The white building is nearing completion as evidenced by the new roof not yet
completed. Also, in 1867 when the church was begun, they added the new, heavy
fences along the west frontage. The matching fence panel (on the trash pile) was
probably a part of the new west fence that extended along the north frontage.
Why it is on the trash pile is a mystery but could have been taken out to make
room for new construction or materials deliveries. Also, the wall under the porch
roof shows a combination of bare studs and possibly masonry piers in an irregular
rhythm. This is curious since in the right foreground is a pile of used, rubble
brick. Where did this brick come from if not from where the studs are exposed
(the studs being temporary shoring for the roof)?
b.
The roof of the white addition appears to be new (complete with a workman
standing on the edge for the photo). No new shingles are on the sub framing yet.
However, it is possible the pile of rubble behind the railing in the center
foreground contains the old, original shingles just torn off the original Pratt home.
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Therefore, it is my opinion that the white building is being added onto the Pratt
Home in the 1867-1874 era when the church was built, or more likely in 1874
when the nuns arrived and more space was needed. Although the Pratt roof
appears to be original in the photo, it could be said that the roofer in the photo had
recently re-shingled the Pratt home and was about to move onto the roof of the
addition with all new shingles. By 1873 the original shingles on the Pratt home
were 40 years old and may have begun to leak. You will notice the quarter-round
windows on its east gable either side of the chimney; this was a common design
feature of that time and some old photos of buildings in Salt Lake City and at Fort
Douglas have the same attic windows. Also the “return eaves” at the bottoms of
the roof gables are of the 1860’s era. This design was defiantly not a 1907 vintage
when the porches and 3rd floor were added!
c.
The 1907 photo shows that brick masons, (possibly the two men in the right of the
photo), have begun to sheathe the original Pratt home with the new, yellow brick
and in this photo are up to the 1st floor windowsills. At the far right of the photo it
can be seen that the new veneer is adding possibly 5” or more to the thickness of
the walls. At the extreme right of the photo is a stack of wood pallets on which
the first load of new bricks was delivered. Next to the pallets and at the building
wall are at least four sawhorse scaffolds, undoubtedly the first of many needed to
extend the new brickwork upwards of 20 feet high. It appears the masons have
removed all the main floor windows in preparation for turning the new brickwork
in at each opening. This was necessary if they hoped to conceal all the red brick
of the original house. The detriment of this is that the replacement windows were
narrower than the original windows and this can be verified by comparing new
and old photos of the same windows.
The second floor of the addition shows all five window sashes removed but not
the window frames. Although curious, it may be that the new owners wanted all
the windows to look the same upon completion. Or, it could be the new sashes
were not ready yet.
d. The small building to the left appears to have been made of stone and then
stuccoed over. This eliminates it as a temporary construction shed. Since the
stucco is deteriorating near the ground, it could be supposed this may have been a
smoke house or summer kitchen of the Pratt’s and remodeled soon after the new
owners arrived. (The possibility of a summer kitchen is remote due to its
distance from the main kitchen, however). It would not have been a milk house
since there was no stream nearby. The windows have unusually large glass
panes—a sign they were installed in the era after the Civil War when larger glass
was available. The windows are possibly the best clue that this little building was
constructed at the same time as the main addition (circa 1874) and was not a Pratt
building at all. Also, this little building appears to be made of the same fieldstone
as the retaining wall in front of it. The wall was most likely not part of the Pratt
improvements since he was too busy (and too poor) to attend to a small rear yard
retaining wall. At any rate, at the extreme right there appears to be a temporary
construction shed behind the wood pallets.
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APPENDIX B
Possible Site Plan Of The One-Acre Lot With Parley And Orson’s Homes
By Mark DeBry, AIA
PPP Site Plan Notes
1.
2.
2a.
2b.
2c.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Pratt Store (May, 1843)
Pratt Home (July, 1843)
Temple Tithing Office
Family Parlor
Kitchen
Ezra Bickford Home (c.1843)
Orson Pratt Home (Sept 1842)
Catholic Church, (1867-1873)
Porch (c. 1907)
East addition, (1907)
Cellar stairway or ramp
(with wagon access).
Well (near rear porch?)
Woodpile (near privy)
Privy
Villa Marie addition (c.1910?)
Fruit and vegetable gardens
Barn (May, 1843)
Wagon access to barn cellar
Corral (preferred on
sloping ground).
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17.
18.
19.
20.
Orchard
Beehives (near orchard)
Family graves
Cistern
Parley P. Pratt Homesite
Nauvoo, Illinois
By Mark deBry
Plausible Site Plan
20 June 2006
Wells Street Young Street 208’-8” 208’-8” 139’-2” 69’-6” North
0 10
25 50
This is a site plan made from the photos and notes developed so far. Obviously it is
conjectural in many respects.
From other projects I worked on in Nauvoo, I have shown what might have been. These
numbers correspond with the site plan above. (My drawing comes from the knowledge I
obtained while I worked as an architect with Nauvoo Restoration, Inc. during the 1960’s
while I was in college. Much of the town was restored during the three summers I worked
there. I drew the plans for the restoration of the Brigham Young home, the Jonathan
Browning Blacksmith home and shop, and many others).
3, 4
Obviously the footprints of the Bickford and Orson Pratt homes are a guess but
it can be supposed they were like other homes; a main, small-spanned building with a leanto or other addition to the rear.
9.
His well would have been near the back door. It is possible it may be too close to
the privy, but back then they did not know the dangers of contaminated drinking water
from a new well. The well location ought to be given more thought, but for now, it is
shown where one would expect it would have been.
10. A woodpile was usually near the privy so that when they used the outhouse, they could
pick up some logs for the stove or fireplace in the house.
11. The privy would face south to gain the winter sun through an open door if necessary, or
through the half moon in the door. It was always welcome to leave the door open in the
winter to warm the seat if possible. And of course it should be near enough to the house
for convenience, but far enough away to be down wind if possible.
14.
16.
The barn would have been on a hillside as your notes
Indicate. A cellar was dug under part of the barn.
The corral is on the slope which helps keep horse hoofs
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from getting diseases if they have to stand long hours in mud.
the house, and down-wind.
17.
18.
It’s also away from
An orchard (which never had time to grow).
A beehive area beyond the orchard (which might have been a luxury, but many
wives found honey like money).
I have shown a dirt driveway between the well and log pile since deliveries needed to be
made to the cellar access and a wagon would need to turn around to unload.
I have only a vague idea where the sidewalks and curbs were. The 1900 and 1907 photos
show what I assume was something of an improvement of what was there in 1843. It appears
the church upgraded the west sidewalk when they added the picket fences.
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